Across The Stars

Chapter 15 of my story, enjoy.

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Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Walking Dead, Star Wars or their characters.

Chapter 15: Battle of Ientor Part 1

The tension continued to build on the Impulse as the crew all waited, going about their duties as normal, but constantly waiting for word or, if they were close enough to see the view outside, particularly on the bridge, they kept checking for any sign of any craft that might belong to the rebel group.

'Where are they, have they even heard what's going on, we sent the signal clearly enough?' Lilly though agitated.

She was the most restless as she knew how important this mission was, it was her key to ensuring all her efforts would finally pay off and she'd be recognized. She'd finally show everyone in the Empire how important she really was. It was then, finally, as if in answer to her fervent wishes, that four ships suddenly emerged from hyperspace, one of which she recognized as the ship that had escaped Crunus with the fugitive Jedi.

"We have them now, commander." One of the men on the bridge called out.

Lilly smirked. "Excellent, keep an eye on them, track their movements."

"Commander?" He queried. "They're already within range."

Lilly shook her head. "Remember our plan, we need to let them land, once Nyx has what she wants out of them we will destroy them before they can flee."

So it was they kept an eye on the ships and held their position, waiting for them to make their landing.

Seeing the Impulse in position the four ship allowed themselves to slowly drift into place as they prepared to put their plan into action.

"Alright everyone, you know what you have to do, get ready." Tripp said as he contacted them. "As soon as the Liberty and Dauntless move in on the Impulse, go and land and carry your missions, we'll keep things running up here."

"Copy that, we're good to go." Pete said.

Shel then spoke up. "Just give the word."

There was a pause and them Paul spoke up. "Alright, I think it's time, we've given them enough time to get a good look at us."

"Alright everyone, let's begin."

With that they moved quickly forwards, certainly drawing attention. Lilly noticed this strange move and narrowed her eyes.

"What is this, they're drawing far too close…" She muttered.

Then to her shock, rather than all moving into land as she expected, the two ships that had not moved towards her ship went down to land. In the meantime the two larger ships began to move almost as if flanking the Impulse.

"Commander, we need to-"

"Silence!" She snapped. "Shields up, now!"

The order came just in time for at that moment the ship was rocked as laser blasts from both sides struck it.

Lilly grimaced, noticing that the other two ships were already almost down to Ientor by now.

'This wasn't how things were supposed to go, what are these two doing up here, they were all supposed to land, there's something wrong here.' She thought angrily.

But she'd dwell on it later, she had more important stuff to deal with right now.

XXXXX

Everybody braced themselves as the Eclipse entered the planet's atmosphere and made it's way to a suitable landing spot. Shel's ship shadowed them, also preparing to land. Looking out of the window at the jungle terrain below Clementine instead turned her gaze to the surrounds, that was when she spotted a familiar looking edifice, just like the one on Valunt.

'That must be the shrine' She mused. 'Now I know where to go.'

They also noted a part of the jungle that showed obvious signs of being cleared, the obvious location of the Imperial base.

"Alright everyone, get ready, we're about to land, it's time for the mission to begin." Pete told them.

They nodded and soon they landed and the door was open, they readied their weapons and made their way out of the ship. As soon as they had all disembarked they gathered around, joined by Shel and Becca.

"Alright Clem, you know where you're going?" Pete asked.

She nodded. "Yeah, I saw the route as we were coming in to land."

"Okay, you go do what you have to do." Nick said. "Everyone else, let's go, we'll draw attention and that'll be your cue to do your part Javi."

Javier nodded. "You got it, ready Gabe?"

Looking anxious but determined, Gabe nodded. "Yeah, yeah I'm good."

So it was that they began to advance towards the base while Clem took a different route, heading for the shrine.

As they began to approach the base Pete gave the signal and they began to spread out, to get into position for their ambush. Pete and Nick stayed together while Carlos moved further down, Francine and Eli went to take up position at another angle while Shel and Becca did the same. Then, moving around to the other side, the Ericsons crew began taking up their own positions. While waiting for everyone to prepare Becca shook her head, looking over at her sister.

"I still don't understand why you agreed to this, we aren't even getting paid." She grumbled. "Even if we were, we're smugglers, not mercenaries."

Shel shook her head. "We brought this to their attention, therefore I feel I at least have a moral obligation to see this through and help them. Besides helping them out for free might make them more likely to trust us with, shall we say more sensitive mission. Those would bring in far greater pay, right?"

"I will never understand you for as long as I live, Shel." Becca sighed, shaking her head.

But they had to focus for it was soon time, everyone was in place and gave their own signals, so their attack would be starting soon. Sure enough, as planned, Pete fired the first shot, striking one of the Stormtroopers in the clearing ahead of them and taking him down.

"What the-!" A second yelled before he too was shot.

That caught the attention of a handful of others.

"We're under attack, find them, call reinforcements!" One of them yelled.

Another tried to call back. "But, our base-"

"I don't care how many come out, just get reinforcements out here now!"

So the call went out as they hurried towards the clearing, trying to maintain some form of cover and find the source of the shots. But this played right into the rebels hands and they quickly opened fire, taking them out. This was just what they were waiting for as it caused an alert to be sounded and the doors to the base opened as several Stormtroopers and even Imperial troopers emerged, weapons ready, some even attempting to fire at where they thought the enemy was, it was time to play their part.

XXXXX

Lying in wait for a chance to present itself, Gabe and Javi remained behind cover, keeping an eye on the Imperial base ahead of them.

"So, we've gotta get in, find out where Kate and Mari are and then get out…" Javi muttered.

Gabe bit his lip. "If I remember correctly, there should be a control room within, we can get a full holomap readout of the entire base from there, it should show us where they are being held."

"Good idea." Javi smiled. "That Imperial knowledge should come in real handy, huh?"

"I guess." Gabe sighed. "I don't know if I'm...right for this Javi. I mean, Kate and I, I didn't exactly…"

Javi shook his head. "It's understandable Gabe, you probably, felt like she was replacing your mother, huh?"

"Yeah. I just, wish I'd handled things better...let her know I was sorry for treating her like that." He replied.

"Well, you're gonna get your chance, once we save them." Javi said. "Now c'mon, that's our cue."

Sure enough the Imperials guarding the base had been drawn out by the others, leaving the entrance they planned to use unguarded. They hurried from their hiding spot and slipped inside.

"Okay, which way to the control room?" Javi asked.

Gabe looked around. "It's usually in the centre of the base, so, we go this way."

With that Gabe led the way, blaster at the ready just in case, Javi followed behind him, weapon also at the ready.

They were mostly lucky, they only encountered two patrols on the way to the control room, both moving away from them.

"I don't like this." Gabe muttered. "It's almost too easy."

Javi nodded. "Remember, this is supposed to be a trap for us. So we can easily assume they're moving away...deliberately."

"But then what is the purpose of this trap?" Gabe wondered aloud.

Javi sighed. "Wish I knew, anyway, this it?"

Gabe nodded and they quickly took up positions, for they heard movement inside. The door opened and an Imperial stepped out, acting quickly, Javi grabbed him and they entered the room.

"Okay, nobody do anything stupid, everybody over there, against that wall." He demanded, shoving his captive in that direction.

There were three other Imperials, all of who obeyed, startled as they hurried against the wall with Javi holding them at bay with his blaster.

"Gabe hurry!"

Gabe checked the console and inputted a few commands. "Alright here, they're being held at opposite sides of the base, but on the same level, down one level from here, one on the east, other on the west...no way to tell who is who."

"Right." Javi confirmed. "Okay, you four, in there."

The Imperials quickly obeyed as they were shepherded into a nearby storage closet which Javi then closed and engaged the lock for.

"Should hold them for now, let's get going."

Gabe agreed and they hurried out of the control room.

XXXXX

Having parted ways from the others and now on her own, Clementine swallowed nervously, making her way along the path through the jungle, heading for the shrine.

'I have to be careful, we've spoke about it being a trap, the question is...where is the trap...and who is it for?' She reflected. 'I know I'm the most likely target, but…'

Keeping herself composed however, she pushed the thoughts back and focused on heading for her destination. She gently touched her lightsaber, despite having kept it hidden for so long to hide her identity, she felt reassured by the still familiar weight on her belt. As she walked along the path, keeping her eyes and ears open to ensure there was nothing hidden that could get the jump on her. But to her surprise there was nothing. She was beginning to get more and more wary that something wasn't quite right here, but she couldn't find anything. Shaking her head as she reached the shrine she knew this was it. She let out a reverent sigh as she felt the full presence of the Force just standing outside the door.

She reached her hand out to touch the door. 'This place is so strong in the Force...almost exactly like the one in Valunt, the same feeling, so strong it masks all other Force Presence around it.'

Still, letting the Force guide her, she flattened her palm against the door and closed her eyes, letting the Force flow through her. The door began to rumble as it finally opened to let her in. Crossing the threshold, Clementine readied herself for whatever lay beyond.

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.